BATON ROUGE — A Honduran man arrested in 2017 after raping a woman and slashing at her throat in Baker was sentenced to 20 years behind bars. 

On Monday, Manuel Mejia pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree murder and first-degree rape. Mejia was also facing a second-degree kidnapping charge, but this was dismissed.

Mejia was sentenced to 20 years in prison for each of the attempted murder and rape charges, with both sentences being ordered to be served concurrently. Court records add that he was given credit for time served.

He is expected to be deported after serving his sentence.

In January 2017, Mejia and the then-38-year-old victim met and agreed to have sex. While at his home on Epperson Drive, Mejia struck the victim in the head with a handgun, bound her arms and raped her for several hours. 

Officers at the time of the arrest said that Mejia then gagged the victim and placed her on the floorboard of his vehicle and returned her to the area where he initially picked her up. While leaving her bound and gagged, he cut her throat with a sharp object and left her in the parking lot.